What you should know
- A Brooklyn man who admitted to driving 119 mph on the Long Island Expressway in 2022 while drunk and high before crashing into the back of another vehicle, killing a 9-year-old boy, was sentenced to 4.5 to 13.5 years in prison, Suffolk, county District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced.
- Travis Dickson, 32, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree assault, third-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated by the combined influence of alcohol and drugs, reckless driving and aggravated operation of a motor vehicle without a license.
- Although Dickson was sentenced to between 4.5 and 13.5 years in prison on Friday, prosecutors were asking for between 5 and 15 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law.
NEW YORK – A Brooklyn man, who admitted to driving 119 mph on the Long Island Expressway in 2022 while drunk and high before crashing into the back of another vehicle, killing a 9-year-old boy, was sentenced to between 4.5 and 13.5 years in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced.
Travis Dickson, 32, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree assault, third-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated by the combined influence of alcohol and drugs, reckless driving and aggravated operation of a motor vehicle without a license.
Although Dickson was sentenced to between 4.5 and 13.5 years in prison on Friday, prosecutors were asking for between 5 and 15 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law.
“As this case clearly illustrates, drunk and drug-impaired drivers are a danger to our communities and often cause crashes that prove fatal to innocent victims,” said District Attorney Tierney. “A child lost his life due to the selfish actions of the defendant. I hope this prison sentence provides a small degree of comfort to the victim’s family, who are no doubt still mourning the loss of him.”
On August 22, 2022, at around 1:49 a.m., Dickson was driving a 2018 BMW 540i westbound on the Long Island Expressway at 119 mph, while intoxicated and having smoked marijuana, before crashing into the rear of a 2019 Toyota Corolla. Inside the Toyota was Ángel Salas, 9 years old, and his father, the driver.
The child was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital in critical condition. His father was also taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries. However, two days later, doctors declared the boy brain dead and subsequently took him off life support after arrangements were made to donate his organs.
Dickson showed signs of intoxication after the accident and admitted to smoking marijuana. Blood drawn from Dickson approximately three hours after the accident had an alcohol concentration of 0.14% (almost twice the legal limit) and the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Dickson’s New York State driver’s license was revoked at the time he was driving the BMW.
Juliana Salas, Ángel’s mother, sat down in 2022 with our sister network NBC New York as he mourned the death of his beloved son and dealt with the pain and anger any parent would experience in the face of such a devastating loss.
When Juliana arrived at Stony Brook Hospital after the accident, Ángel was already on life support.
“I was sitting in a room with my son. Well, he’s hooked up to a machine and people are just keeping his body alive, but he’s not there anymore,” she said.
Doctors kept her son alive for a few days so they could harvest his organs and help other children.
“I did things to make his life the best I could,” Salas said, “Without him here, there goes my reason for fighting. That’s how I feel now.”
“An innocent child’s life was stolen because someone made really dumb decisions,” Salas said.
2024-04-06 16:50:30
#NYC #man #sentenced #highspeed #crash #killed #9yearold #boy
